Most exhibitions ask visitors to ‘look but don’t touch’, but Scott Eady’s project for The Dowse, 100 Bikes: Part 1 features 50 bikes, trikes and scooters that children can ride in the gallery space, activating and completing an artwork through their participation. Intended by Eady as the first part of a larger project, the exhibition opens on 8th October 2011 and runs until 6th February 2012. Scott will be in Wellington from 5th-8th October and available for interviews and photo opportunities.
From a motley collection sourced from rubbish dumps and second hand shops, Eady has carefully and expertly customised each bicycle. Over a 6 month period, the rejected machines have undergone significant transformation; dismantled, sandblasted, parts replaced, chromed and assembled once more. Finally, in a twist on the tradition of an artist’s signature, each bike is fitted with a badge inscribed with the 100 Bikes Project logo.
At the heart of the exhibition is the experience of childhood, a theme running through much of Scott’s recent work. The starting point was a trip one Christmas to a recycle shop to purchase bikes for his own children; “The process of collecting the bikes from the dump, stripping them down, re-painting the frames and replacing parts that were beyond repair was a valuable lesson in recycling.”
The idea of learning is also paramount, particularly the skills gained as a child moves from training wheels to a sense of their own propulsion; “We want to protect our children from all dangers but realise the need to instil them with the tools necessary to negotiate a not-always friendly world.”
Although the exhibition operates as a moving event as much as static display, the material quality of the objects remains important. 50 versions of one essential shape, 100 Bikes: Part 1 can be seen as a selection of exquisitely rendered sculptural or design forms.
Scott Eady was born in 1972 in Auckland. He graduated with an MFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 1999. In 2002. he was awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago. His work has been included in exhibitions such as Scott Eady (survey), Pah Homestead, Auckland 2011; Headlands Sculpture on the Gulf, Waiheke Island 2011; Lost at the Bottom of the World, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui 2010; Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, Gallery 33, Wanaka 2010 and White on White, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2008.
Media enquiries and images: Rachel Healy, Communications Manager
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